Ryan Fitzpatrick: "We’ve got to get C.J. more touches"

QUARTERBACK RYAN FITZPATRICKOn RB C.J. Spiller having limited touches“They did a nice job with the personnel they had in, basically taking us out of a lot of our three wide receiver run game. They did a good job of that. We tried to run a little bit early with two tights and they did a good job of taking that away. We felt like we had a better chance getting the ball in the air a little bit, trying to go against those one on one matchups. I mean the story of the day for us is we’ve got to get C.J. more touches. I think everybody knows that and we’ve got to find ways to do that. But really the story for us was just our inability to score touchdowns. We had three field goals and another field goal attempt. Something this team over the last few years has been good at is converting those drives into seven points, not three. To me, that’s where our issue was today, not being able to get the seven points, driving it down the field and doing different things and not being able to convert.”

On what the Texans did to prevent them from converting“I think you always have to give credit to them, you know, the people you are going against. It wasn’t anything new or anything we didn’t expect. They just did a good job. They are a tough team to face.”

On the effectiveness of the Texans blitz“The way that they blitz and even just their guys up front I mean, they’re very good. We knew that coming into the game. The amount of sacks, the quarterback hurries, hits, batted balls, and all that stuff has been talked about a lot with this team. They’re as good as advertised up front and they did a good job with it today.”

On why they didn’t take more shots downfield“I threw a couple to (WR) Stevie (Johnson) and I think he was fighting out there. He was hobbling a little bit after his third catch or whenever it was in the first half. We didn’t do a bad job of driving the ball to their twenty. It was when we got to their twenty that we really struggled.”

On if the Texans were anticipating the run regarding the play at 3rd and two“Yeah, they were all up in there. That was the play and it just didn’t work out.”

On why they didn’t run the ball more“I think with what they were doing, we thought that was the best way to counter that. Unfortunately, we came out and got a slow start in the second half and that’s not what we needed. I thought we had a little bit of momentum at the end of the half there, being able to stop them and get the field goal. Then getting the ball first in the second half. The first three passes just didn’t connect. It’s something as we progress as a team here, that instinct, coming out and being successful and consistent; that’s what we need to do.

On if he thought about the pass he had here years ago for the comeback during this game“This was a much different game than that. In that game we fell behind early, so early, and then I came off the bench and all that. I definitely thought about that walking into this stadium today. I definitely kind of remembered that as I was walking onto the field; but during the game I was thinking about how we’re going to get into the end zone. It didn’t happen today.

On how frustrated he is as a leader“It’s tough. I thought we had a great plan. I thought we had some great practices leading up. The effort was there today I felt like. Unfortunately we got beat by a better team today. We just need to continue to push and work and not get down. That’s the only chance we have to turn this thing around.”

On the mood in the locker room at half time“We were excited. We were ready to go out there. Offensively we missed some opportunities, like I’ve been hitting on, to get the seven points. But the mood was upbeat. The defense did a good job. We thought we were going to go out there and win the game. That’s an important feeling to have. Obviously we didn’t do it, but we had some momentum there at halftime.”

On if they followed the game plan in regards to running the ball“We had a lot of stuff that we didn’t get to do because of how they were playing us. That’s just the way it is with our team and the things that we do. Teams, when they play against us, the biggest thing is to stop the run. Stop (RB) C.J. (Spiller), stop (RB) Fred (Jackson), and make us beat you with the pass. That’s what the Texans came into the game saying and that’s what they did.”

On how they will stop other teams from ruining their game plan“It’s something we need to evaluate, figure out, and have a good plan for. We’ve got to be able to take advantage with our guys on the outside as well when they try to do that.”

On if he can give examples of what the Texans did to stray them from their plan“The biggest thing if you go back and look at the tape is at times not matching personnel. Have three wide receivers playing a lot of man to man coverage and leaving and extra linebacker in rather than bringing a nickel defender.”